UPCOMING PUBLIC ENGAGEMENTS WITH TALOS

Date: May 29

Speaker: Paul Rascagnères

Synopsis: Paul will give an overview of an espionage campaign targeting the Middle East that we called “DNSpionage.” First, he will go over the malware and its targets and then talk about the process the attackers took to direct DNSs. The talk will include a timeline of all events in this attack, including an alert from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Date: June 5

Speaker: Paul Rascagnères

Synopsis: Privacy has become a more public issue over time with the advent of instant messaging and social media. Secure Instant Messaging (SIM) has even become a problem for governments to start worrying about. While many people are using these messaging apps, it’s opened up the door for attackers to create phony, malicious apps that claim to offer the same services. In this talk, Paul will show various examples of these cloned applications and the different techniques used to send data back to the attacker.

CYBER SECURITY WEEK IN REVIEW

Facebook released an emergency update for WhatsApp after attackers were able to completely take over devices with just a phone call. While many mobile malware families usually require the user to open some sort of file, this vulnerability allowed hackers to infect a device as soon as the user answered a phone call using WhatsApp.

An anonymous Twitter user claims to be selling access to documents stolen in the ransomware attack on Baltimore’s government. Nearly two weeks after the initial infection, many of the city’s online services are still disabled.

Twitter says a bug in its iOS app caused the social media platform to mistakenly leak users’ locations to a yet-to-be-named third party. The vulnerability only affected a small number of iOS users, the company said.

President Donald Trump signed a national emergency this week that bans Chinese tech companies from selling their products in the U.S. While the executive order does not name any specific companies, it is largely thought that the U.S. is specifically targeting Huawei and ZTE.

Google promised to replace all of its Titan security keys after a vulnerability was discovered in its Bluetooth pairing. The bug could allow an attacker to remotely communicate with the device and the device its paired with via Bluetooth.

Europol says it has dismantled the cybercrime group behind the GozNym banking trojan. The international police agency says they’ve charged 10 individuals so far with infecting and stealing money from more than 41,000 victims.

Cisco patched a critical vulnerability in many of its devices that could allow attackers to lock out software updates. The flaw exists in Cisco’s Secure Boot process.

Apple fixed a variety of bugs in its products as part of its monthly security update. WebKit had the largest number of vulnerabilites, while others exist in Mail and DesktopServices.

Two major Japanese online retailers say they were hit with a cyberattack that allowed attackers to steal shoppers’ information for two weeks. UNIQLO Japan and GU Japan stated that hackers breached their system using a credential-stuffing attack.

NOTABLE RECENT SECURITY ISSUES

Description: Microsoft released its monthly security update today, disclosing a variety of vulnerabilities in several of its products. The latest Patch Tuesday covers 79 vulnerabilities, 22 of which are rated “critical," 55 that are considered "important" and one "moderate." This release also includes two critical advisories: one covering Microsoft Live accounts and another addressing updates to Adobe Flash Player. This month’s security update covers security issues in a variety of Microsoft’s products, including the Scripting Engine, the Microsoft Edge web browser and GDI+.

Snort SIDs: 50068 - 50091, 50115 - 50119, 50120 - 50122

Description: Adobe disclosed 87 vulnerabilities in a variety of its products as part of its monthly security update. The majority of the bugs exist in Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader. There are also critical arbitrary code execution vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player and Reader.

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